The Skull

Simple story of a complex man wishing to possess a skull once the lifelong possession of the long dead Marquis De Sade which is now possessed by evil forces and which possesses him to possess it and other evil artifacts whatever the cost. Whatever possessed Robert Bloch to ever write such a charming short story I'll never know – it was more in the mind with his stories, the film of course had to be more supernatural and a darker shade more dramatic.

It was a fine Amicus production with great roles for both Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee (and also a memorable part from Patrick Wymark) with many atmospheric scenes and images – as a pair of collectors of objects d'art the production values had the opportunity to be and were sumptuous. Are there really weird people around who like to be surrounded at all times by evil and perverse ornaments and objects, apart from politicians I mean? It's the type of cerebral film to watch at night with the doors and windows closed and locked against the elements and elemental forces, looking over your shoulder to make sure you're still alone. I was entranced by it at age 12, but now it's not so spooky occasionally looking through the eye holes of a skull at various people through the eye holes of middle age; also the floating skull scenes were always borderline risible, but they just about got away with it. The rather flat end might leave you scratching your head too, as the moral is? But maybe I'm just too thick-skulled to get it. Seriously though, this is a wonderful waste of time and engrossing nonsense from start to finish especially if you can get your head round it all.

The Skull is probably the best film Amicus produced,based on a chilling short story by Robert Bloch and directed with visual flair by Freddie Francis it tells the story of a writer on Demonology ; Christopher Maitland(Peter Cushing excellent as usual) who is offered a skull and a fleshbound book originally belonging to none other than the Marquis de Sade for a mere £500,at first he is skeptical of its provenance but finally agrees to buy it from Marco a shifty character(memorably played by Patrick Wymark)who previously stole the skull and book from Sir Matthew Phillips(Christopher Lee)who had fallen under it's sinister spell in the past and was glad the skull and book had been stolen,Matthew tries to convince Christopher of its evil power and advises him to get rid of it as soon as possible,but to no avail,Christopher keeps the skull and begins to come unstuck, he starts hallucinating and having bizarre dreams. All the performances are first rate,but this is Peter Cushings film,he is literally in every scene and gives a convincing performance of a man falling pray to evil. I can't help thinking this could have been a true classic if it had had a bigger budget. The whole cast and crew have worked wonders with what little money and resources they must have had,it also remains(in my opinion) Freddie Francis best film as a director....a must for a cold winters night.

On paper, the 1965 Amicus production "The Skull" would seem to be a surefire winner. Based on a story by Robert "Psycho" Bloch, directed by horror veteran Freddie Francis, starring British horror icons Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and featuring such sterling character actors as Michael Gough, Nigel Green, Patrick Wymark and Jill Bennett, it would seem like a can't-miss proposition. While the film is undeniably fun, however, it somehow falls short of greatness. In it, Cushing plays an occult investigator who comes into possession of the 150-year-old, particularly nasty-looking skull of the notorious libertine the Marquis de Sade, and comes under the influence of its baleful and hypnotic powers. (Indeed, it's more like the skull has come into possession of him!) The film features strikingly handsome sets, a justly celebrated and Kafkaesque dream sequence, stylish direction from Francis (dig those skull's head POV shots!), and, near the picture's end, a very interesting and suspenseful 20-minute segment largely devoid of dialogue. While some viewers have complained of visible strings attached to the levitating skull, that really didn't bother me (a single wire is barely visible for perhaps two seconds); what did vex me is that we never learn of the skull's evil doings between the time of its disinterment and its modern-day shenanigans. It MUST have been up to something during those 150 years, right? The film also seems a bit tentative in that it never lets Cushing become truly possessed and crazed; how much better the picture would have been if ol' Pete really went on a tear! Still, watching Cushing and Lee together has long been one of the supreme pleasures of horror cinema, and this little movie does have its winning ways. It's no "Creeping Flesh" or "Horror Express," but still most enjoyable.

The Skull won't exactly knock you out of your seat with its brilliance, but despite that fact, it is still an enjoyable slice of British horror, with a number of things to recommend it for. Amicus may be better known for their omnibus films, and indeed this story does feel a little stretched over its 85 minute running time, but in spite of that; The Skull is undoubtedly one of the studio's better feature length efforts. The fact that Amicus have managed to get both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee on board ensures interest from the beginning, and the plot isn't a let down. The Marquis de Sade isn't the most common horror figure, but nevertheless; this film focuses on his disembodied skull. Christopher Maitland is a collector of rare and occult items, and when his supplier; the dodgy Anthony Marco brings a skull to him one day; he is interested because it once belonged to the Marquis de Sade. When his friend, Sir Matthew Phillips, explains that the skull is dangerous, Maitland only becomes more intrigued. But he finds to his peril that skull is dangerous, as it leads its owner to kill...

Freddie Francis directed a number of films for both the big British studios, Hammer and Amicus, and it's not hard to see why he often gets hired as the quality of his direction is not too far behind heavyweights Terence Fisher and Roy Ward Baker. He's got a good creative partner in novelist Robert Bloch, who wrote the story 'The Skull of the Marquis de Sade', upon which this film is based - as well as the far better known novel 'Psycho'. This film doesn't feature a career best performance from either horror heavyweight, but Peter Cushing fits his role as the occult collector brilliantly, while Christopher Lee delivers his usual forceful, scene-stealing, method of acting. Patrick Wymark is also worth a mention, as he is given the most intriguing role in the piece as the slightly sleazy dealer. It has to be said that the first two thirds of the film are more interesting than the third one, which is a shame as the film seems to run out of steam before the end. However, The Skull is still an interesting little film, and I'm sure that fans of classic horror will find lots to like about it.

This was among the first vintage horror films I recall watching, but it took me this long to re-acquaint myself with it (after I had foolishly abandoned the prospect of a second viewing as part of a late-night Italian TV program hosted by two amiable ghouls – the same thing would also happen with Hammer's FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL [1974], which I then had to wait some 13 years to catch up with!).

Anyay, though the film's premise, in itself, is rather daft – that of a host of antiquarians being 'possessed' by the skull of the Marquis De Sade – the result is very stylish and altogether one of Hammer rival Amicus' most satisfying outings. Apart from director Francis, the men behind Amicus – Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky (the latter also scripted, from a story by Robert Bloch of PSYCHO [1960] fame) – again recruited Hammer's two most popular stars, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, for this production. As ever, they play extremely well off each other – even if Lee, ostensibly, is only a "Guest Star" – delivering typically committed performances: Cushing has fun acting crazy – under the influence of the skull – towards the end (and also during a surreal nightmare sequence in which he's forcefully taken before a judge who promptly hands him a gun to play at Russian Roulette!), whereas Lee gives surprising poignancy to his role. Supporting them is a splendid cast indeed – led by Patrick Wymark, who actually matches the stars with his seedy supplier of generally weird artifacts, and the brief (albeit equally welcome) presence of the likes of George Coulouris, Michael Gough, Nigel Green and Patrick Magee!

While Francis creates wonderful atmosphere via the cinematography (particularly when shooting through the skull's eyehole) and the set design (the film starts off as a period piece but then reverts to a modern-day setting for the central plot line), I do feel that the possibilities presented by the nonetheless intriguing theme are regrettably constrained by censorship and budgetary restrictions – so that the Marquis De Sade's legacy seems somehow to have been mixed up with that of Jack The Ripper! In any case, THE SKULL is generally considered nowadays as Francis' best directorial effort – though I personally feel NIGHTMARE (1964), THE PSYCHOPATH (1966) and THE CREEPING FLESH (1973) to be superior to it